[Rockhounds] More foolishness about the '800 million dollar' emerald

[Carol J. Bova]

Actually Kris, I think the WSJ reporter did a reasonable job of  
reporting on this, but was short on direct research into the nature of  
the specimen, relying on the statements of the parties involved in the  
court case. Check out the full WSJ article at:
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123578111660297983.html>

She does have a statement that such items are not usually broken apart  
for jewelry, but kept as specimens,  quotes the Brazilian "appraisal"  
and follows that with a statement from the curator of minerals and  
gems at the American Museum of Natural History in New York "that the  
most impressive mineral specimens might bring a price of up to six or  
seven figures. 'But nine figures? I'm unaware of any mineral specimen  
that's ever gone for that much money.'"

She also has a statement from GIA on the age of the emeralds from  
Bahia. Earlier posts mentioned that  where she went wrong was calling  
it an "emerald" throughout the story.

Bryan pointed out, papers do what they can to sell papers and to stay  
in business. What we can do is write a polite letter to the reporter  
and point out errors and offer more information. It's easy to make  
contact through website emails. Who knows if it will change that  
reporter's approach to minerals and gems in future stories, but if we  
don't speak up, who will?  (And yes, I did send her an email tonight,  
including links to pics from the Smithsonian and Mindat.org in case  
she wants to learn more. *s*)
Carol

Carol J. Bova

((The Eclectic Lapidary is offline for now, but will return one of  
these days!))

On Mar 5, 2009, at 10:09 PM, Kris Rowe wrote:

> I'm echoing your comments, Pete. However, isn't it amazing how an  
> 800 lb
> hunk of matrix and (from the pic I've seen) pretty pedestrian
> "emerald"/green beryl feeds media interest? Ooooooooo ... CONFLICT!
> (Yaaaaaawwnnn ... )
<SNIP>
>
> Okay, all kidding aside, this is obviously just another in the  
> seemingly
> endless series of "news bulletins" that are absolutely, completely,  
> and
> (sadly) PROUDLY full of poorly researched information. Perhaps if we  
> reached
> out to the Wall St. Journal reporter and pointed her toward the  
> obscure,
> hard-to-find sources that we're privy to, such as The Smithsonian,  
> The GIA,
> Mineral Record, Rocks & Minerals, Rock & Gem or any one of  
> *THOUSANDS* of
> G&M Society Bulletins, she'd benefit. Heck, even the crafters at  
> today's
> Lapidary Journal ... errrrr ... "Jewelry Artist" magazine could  
> write a more
> factually correct article. (Sarcasm intended, and IMHO, deserved.)
>
> The shocking thing is that this "opinion blog" class article  
> appeared in
> such an august periodical. Just goes to show that (Personal Quote)  
> "If you
> give a dunce a soapbox, they will still remain a dunce."
>
> My apologies to anyone who feels I'm being overly harsh on this
> "Journalist." (*smile*)
>
> Q: What's that whining noise?
> A: Edward R. Murrow spinning in his grave! Call the Fire Department!
>
> Be Well, y'all!
>                      Kris
>                      Lapidary Specialties
>                      Blog & Gallery: R&R
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 3:47 PM, Tim <nospam at orerockon.com> wrote:
>
>> Not to mention worth a few thousand (OK MAYBE $10k) if you are too  
>> lazy to
>> save a few thou and fly to Paraiba and pick out one for yourself  
>> out of the
>> spoils heaps. Would get charged a pretty big extra luggage fee  
>> though...
>>
>> Tim Fisher
>> Ore-ROCK-On!
>> Email address at http://OreRockOn.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 10:58 AM
>> To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
>> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] More foolishness about the '800 million  
>> dollar'
>> emerald
>>
>> Yeah, the most idiotic thing about all these news stories that the  
>> media
>> keep repeating, is referring to this as "an emerald".? For heaven's  
>> sakes,
>> it is a big hunk of dirty old rock, with a bunch of emerald-green  
>> mostly
>> non-gemmy beryl crystals sticking up out of it.
>>
>> P.
>> (Pete Modreski)

>> -----Original Message-----
>> Sent: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 11:24 am
>> Subject: [Rockhounds] More foolishness about the '800 million dollar'
>> emerald
>>
>> <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503808,00.html>
>>
>> BK